Sanjay Dutt set to walk free after getting early release in 1993 Mumbai blasts case

Actor Sanjay Dutt is set to walk out of Pune’s Yerawada jail after he was granted remission in his five-year sentence

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case, will be a free man today - if there are no last-minute hurdles.

Dutt should walk out of Pune’s Yerawada jail after he was granted remission in his five-year sentence.

On the eve of his release after serving 42 months behind bars, a public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay High Court on Wednesday challenging his early release on remission, alleging that the 56-year-old actor was getting preferential treatment.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde Tuesday said the actor will be completing his jail term on February 25, after counting in the eight months and 16 days he earned as exemption or remission on account of good behaviour in prison.

Jail officials said the actor, who has been dogged by controversies triggered by accusations that he got irregular remission in his sentence and was given special treatment by the authorities, will be released on Thursday.

According to his lawyers, Dutt’s remission days were calculated in accordance with rules and jail manual.

“Dutt will be released tomorrow (February 25) in the morning at around 10am in keeping with the normal procedures as applied to every prisoner who has completed his sentence and jail term,” Yerawada Jail Superintendent U T Pawar said.

Pawar refuted allegations that the jail authorities had given Dutt a special treatment during his stay in view of his celebrity status. His remission was worked out in compliance with jail rules and he was treated like any other convict, he said.

The PIL filed by social activist Pradeep Bhalekar urges the high court to cancel the government’s decision granting the remission and to order the actor to be taken into custody again to serve his entire five-year sentence imposed on him by the apex court.